Economic and Social Council
Distr.
GENERAL
E/CN.4/1997/103
16 January 1997
Original: ENGLISH
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-third session
Item 8 (c) of the provisional agenda

QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED
TO ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT

QUESTION OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES

Report of the Secretary-General

In its resolution 1996/30 of 19 April 1996, entitled
"Question of enforced disappearances", the Commission
on Human Rights reiterated its invitation to States to consider
taking effective measures including, if appropriate, legislative
measures, to implement the principles of the Declaration on the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and to
take action to that end at the national and regional levels and
in cooperation with the United Nations. It also encouraged States
to provide concrete information on measures taken to give effect
to the Declaration, as well as obstacles encountered. In
conclusion, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to
keep it informed of the steps he takes for the widespread
dissemination and promotion of the Declaration and to compile
observations, if any, from Governments on the possible measures
they have taken, where appropriate, to take the Declaration into
account.

In conformity with Commission resolution 1996/30, the
Department of Public Information (DPI) has distributed Fact Sheet
No.6 concerning enforced or involuntary disappearances, published
by the Centre for Human Rights, which contains the full text of
the Declaration. It is also in the process of publishing a
booklet on the Declaration which is to be distributed to, among
others, United Nations peace-keeping offices and specialized
agencies. In addition, the DPI Visitors' Services Section makes
the Declaration available to the general public and educational
institutes upon request. The text of the Declaration is also
available on the Internet under the section on General Assembly
resolutions. The Department's Development and Human Rights
Section also distributes copies of the Declaration upon request.

In the field, United Nations Information Centres and Services
and United Nations offices are provided with copies of
publications containing the Declaration, which they keep in their
reference libraries for consultation by interested students,
researchers and academics. They also distribute copies to the
media and to non-governmental organizations and at special events
such as the annual celebration of Human Rights Day.

For the remainder of the current biennium, the DPI plans to
issue a special backgrounder on the question of enforced
disappearances. Every opportunity will be used to promote the
elements of the Declaration in briefings and events dealing with
the United Nations and human rights, both at Headquarters and
through United Nations information centres and services.

Human rights field offices have also actively distributed the
Declaration to local non-governmental organizations and other
interested parties. The Declaration is also part of the training
projects on the administration of justice that are being
developed in the framework of the human rights advisory services,
technical assistance and information programme.

In implementation of resolution 1996/30, on 7 June 1996 the
Secretary-General sent a note verbale to the Governments of all
Member States drawing their attention to the provisions of this
resolution and requesting them to provide information on the
measures they had taken to take the Declaration into account.

At the time of preparation of the present report, replies had
been received from the Governments of Croatia, Guyana, the
Philippines and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.

The Government of Croatia stated that the implementation of
the Declaration was one of the priorities of the Government, and
to that end, a number of legislative and administrative measures
had been taken at the national level. However, for the Republic
of Croatia the main problem concerning enforced disappearances
remained the tracing of persons missing as a result of the armed
conflict whose fate was still not known. In order to clarify the
fate of those persons, the Government had established the
Government Commission on Detained and Missing Persons, which had
undertaken numerous measures at both the national and
international levels, resulting in the clarification of the fate
of a total of 7,496 persons. In addition, the Government was
cooperating with the special process on missing persons in the
Territory of the Former Yugoslavia, the International Committee
of the Red Cross and others in an effort to determine the fate of
those persons who remained missing.

The Government of Guyana stated that there were no known cases
of enforced disappearance in Guyana. The Constitution provided
for the protection of the right to life and liberty, and the
Criminal Law Act, Chapter 8:01 provided for the protection of
women and children against abduction or kidnapping. The
Government further noted that some potential witnesses,
especially in drug related cases, were afraid to give evidence
because of threats from the accused or persons connected to the
accused. In that regard, the Government stressed the need for a
witness protection programme. The Government stated that it had
taken appropriate action to ensure compliance with the
Declaration.

The Government of the Philippines stated that under Republic
Act No. 7659, entitled "An Act to Impose the Death Penalty
on Certain Heinous Crimes", kidnapping and serious illegal
detention were listed among the heinous crimes to which the
penalty of death was to be applied when the victims were killed
or raped or died as a consequence of their detention. Under
resolution No. A83-046 of the Philippine Commission on Human
Rights, the Commission was authorized to grant financial
assistance to qualified victims of human rights violations, in
the form of temporary relief, not compensation. Coordination was
being strengthened between the Department of Justice and the
Philippine Commission on Human Rights on the documentation and
identification of cases of disappearance under preliminary
investigation, including cases of harassment, ill-treatment and
the intimidation of witnesses or relatives of disappeared
persons. Coordination was also being strengthened between the
Department of Justice and law-enforcement agencies in the
prosecution of perpetrators of enforced disappearances, and
representatives of the Department of Justice were contributing to
congressional hearings on the drafting of bills for the
prevention and elimination of enforced disappearance. The
National Police Commission had established the Office for Missing
Persons, which would handle public assistance activities
regarding enforced disappearances. Efforts were under way to
promote human rights at the village level through the
implementation of the national human rights advocacy programme
and the creation of human rights action centres in the villages.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland reported that to date it had received no
allegations of enforced disappearance, but it would take swift
and appropriate action to deal with any instances of enforced
disappearance that came to light. The United Kingdom had
comprehensive legal safeguards to prevent such an occurrence. To
that end, extensive details were provided on the protection
provided for individuals in police and prison custody, and of
other relevant provisions in the criminal justice system, inter
alia, concerning the right of any detainee to have someone
informed of his arrest, to speak to a solicitor and to have
independent legal advice free of charge. Exercise of those rights
might be delayed in connection with a serious arrestable offence,
but the delay in notification of arrest must not exceed 36 hours
from the time of arrival at the police station or 48 hours in the
case of suspects held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989.
Prisoners were allowed to make two phone calls, to write to
whomsoever they wished and would be interviewed within 24 hours
by the prison governor, the prison chaplain and a probation
officer. Prisoners have the right to make an application for
habeas corpus.

(c) Copyright 1997
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland